Seeking Peace

Cai Yaozong was unaware that his old partner had already harbored thoughts of betrayal. He asked Liu Hongyu, "Where is Lord Zhao?"

"The Hermit of the Layperson Kumu and Lord Gan have come from afar. What kind of official would it be if I detained Lord Zhao in the yamen? Besides, Lord Zhao still has two days before her appointment, so I let her go back to accompany the Layperson Kumu and the others," Liu Hongyu said.

Before Cai Yaozong could even feel a surge of joy, he added, "However, Lord Zhao truly lives up to her reputation as the top scholar appointed by the Emperor. She is diligent and conscientious in her official duties. She said that since she has come to the yamen today, she has reported to the yamen. She will not let personal matters interfere with official business. She plans to go back and settle the Layperson Kumu and his party, and will come to the yamen this afternoon."

Li Li knew what Cai Yaozong was afraid of. He said gleefully, "When Lord Gan heard that Lord Zhao wanted to see the files and accounts, he immediately said he would come with Lord Zhao this afternoon to take a look at them for her."

Cai Yaozong nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The scene he feared most has finally come to pass!

"My lord, isn't this inappropriate? Lord Gan isn't an official of Nanyang, so how can he access Nanyang's files and accounts? Not only is he not an official of Nanyang, but he's no longer one either; he's retired. This is completely against the rules." The more Cai Yaozong spoke, the more reasonable he felt. By the end, his apprehension had vanished, and he became increasingly assertive.

That's right, that's exactly it, it's against the rules!

If Liu Hongyu had initially intended to stay out of the conflict between Zhao Ruxi and Cai Yaozong, his "it's none of my business" attitude completely vanished after learning that Zhao Ruxi was actually doing business with the Emperor.

But before he could speak, Li Li beat him to it.

Li Li's tone was full of sarcasm. "It's laughable that you say that, Lord Cai. I remember that you invite your friend to audit the accounts every year, right? Lord Cai Lord Gan is at least a proper official of the Ministry of Revenue of Revenue, but I remember that your friend is just a bookkeeper in a silver shop with only the title of Lord Cai a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations)."

Wang Yongshou was Chen Kang's man. Although Cai Yaozong was a partner of Chen Kang, he did not trust him. Every year, he would ask one of his classmates to audit the accounts. That classmate had only passed the county-level imperial examination and had no hope of further studies. His family was also poor, so he went to work as an accountant in a silver shop. Cai Yaozong promised him a certain amount of money and asked him to take some time out of his busy schedule to audit the accounts every year.

Previously, Li Li was out of favor and dared not offend Cai Yaozong in the government office, always keeping a low profile. Now that he has joined Zhao Ruxi, he has changed his attitude and become a smug, petty person.

Cai Yaozong was furious, his face contorted with rage. Forgetting all about maintaining his usual amiable image, he glared at Li Li and unleashed a torrent of profanities. "None of your business! Don't think that just because you want to curry favor with someone, they'll pay you any attention. Take a good look at yourself!"

"Shut up, all of you." Liu Hongyu's forehead veins throbbed as he watched the situation.

The Qiming Ten-Day Gazette now covers the Jiangnan region, and there are "reporters" in every place. If these two continue talking, the news of "Nanyang officials hurling insults at each other like shrewish women" might be published in the newspaper tomorrow.

He'd heard that the Emperor read every issue of this newspaper. Then the three of them wouldn't need to be officials anymore; they could just get out of there. It would be perfect to give Zhao Zhiwei the top position in the government office, and then arrange for a few newly appointed scholars to be his subordinates, thus fulfilling Zhao Zhiwei.

"Do as I say. Tomorrow, move all the files and accounts to Lord Zhao's room." Liu Hongyu gave Cai Yaozong a warning look. "You better behave yourself. Don't forget, it's not His Highness the Crown Prince sitting in that position yet."

With that, he flicked his sleeve and went into his room.

Seeing Liu Hongyu get angry, Li Li didn't dare to be sarcastic anymore and quickly turned around and went into his own room.

Cai Yaozong was left standing alone in the corridor, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

Coming to his senses, he glanced at the empty corridor and asked his butler, "Where's Chen Kang?"

"Well, they left when you were arguing with Lord Li," the steward gestured with his chin. "They seem to have left the yamen."

Cai Yaozong's face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water.

He stepped outside and ordered, "Prepare a sedan chair for me."

The officials in the yamen already knew where Zhao Ruxi lived. When Zhou Chun bought the house, he registered it under Zhao Ruxi's name.

Cai Yaozong rode in a sedan chair and arrived at the Zhao Residence in no time. Sure enough, he saw Chen Kang, who had just arrived, at the gatehouse of the Zhao Family.

Chen Kang, true to his old fox nature, was incredibly thick-skinned. Upon seeing Cai Yaozong, he showed not a trace of shame or unease, and calmly smiled, saying, "I was going to ask you to come along, but seeing you talking to Lord Li and the others, I went ahead, thinking you'd arrive soon. And sure enough..."

Cai Yaozong snorted inwardly, but on the surface he still smiled, showing no sign of any discord between them. "I knew you'd come here, so I came to chase after you. Haha, looks like we're on the same wavelength."

He didn't get along with Zhao Ruxi, had a conflict with Liu Hongyu, and was at odds with Li Li from the very beginning. In the entire government office, he had no allies except Chen Kang, and he dared not cause any more trouble with Chen Kang.

The two men, each with their own thoughts, waited in the gatehouse.

Zhao Ruxi was talking with Kang Shilin and others when a servant came to report that Cai Yaozong and Chen Kang had come to visit.

"What's going on?" Although Kang Shilin had never held an official position in his life, he was very perceptive and immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Just now at the entrance of the yamen, only Prefect Liu Hongyu and Li Li came out to greet them; Cai Yaozong and Chen Kang were not there.

Even if these two weren't in the yamen just now, they shouldn't have known that Zhao Ruxi's elders had come from afar and still immediately went to visit them. That's incredibly inconsiderate.

Zhao Ruxi didn't hide anything from her master and the others, and recounted all the conflicts and entanglements within the yamen.

Kang Shilin knew from the conversation that his apprentice had prompted Gan Lun to offer to help her look at the files and accounts that his apprentice must have run into trouble.

Hearing how complicated the situation was, he asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Zhao Ruxi thought for a moment and said, "I'll go see them first." She turned to Gan Lun and said, "Master, if needed, I would like to ask you to take a look at the accounts for salt and grain."

Although she had mentioned this at the entrance of the yamen, it was said in a joking tone at the time. Now that she had explained the discord with the yamen, she naturally wanted to say it again solemnly.

She also emphasized the words "if necessary." If she has a good talk with Cai Yaozong and Chen Kang later, the audit might be put on hold for now.

Cai Yaozong had been lingering in Nanyang for several years, and with the support of the Crown Prince's faction, he was not so easy to shake; Chen Kang was an even more powerful local tyrant.

She pushed them both too far, and neither of them ended up pleasing the other.